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Showing posts with label We Light the Advent Candles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label We Light the Advent Candles. Show all posts
The members and friends of Cove gathered to worship on Sunday, December 22. Our worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy.
This morning we concluded a series of messages entitled "We Light the Advent Candles". During the Sundays before Christmas, we'll consider meaning found in the four verses of the song we sing as we light the Advent candles. The specific topics are below:
December 1 – The first one remind us that Christ will soon return...
December 8 – We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word...
December 15 – Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way...
December 22 – Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come...
If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on The Cove Community blog.
We started the service with the announcements and lighting the fourth candle in the Advent wreath.
Instrumental and vocal music are important to our worship. Songs give us the chance to praise God and to help focus our attention on the theme of the service. During the service, we’ll have the opportunity to sing songs that reflect different musical styles. Since God has called into his church as individuals with a variety of tastes, this offers us the chance to display our sensitivity for our fellow worshipers and to grow in our knowledge of how we might praise God. Our first song was "O Come, All Ye Faithful."
Our prayers represent our communication with God. Of course, as Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit “...intercedes for us with groans too deep for words”; therefore, God already knows our needs. Still it’s important that we put them into words, as well as the regret we feel for our sins and our thanks for all God has done for us.
During this service, there were two times when we prayed together. During the Our Congregational Prayer, we confessed our sins and hear the assurance that we're forgiven. We also have the opportunity to lift our concerns and needs to God. We closed this prayer with The Lord’s Prayer. After we collected the offering, we praised and thanked God for his presence in our church and within our lives. The Cove Choir sang while we collected the offering.
After our prayer of thanks, Pastor Rudiger shared a message. For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The fourth message will dealt with "Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come..." and focused on the birth of Jesus.
The service closed with the singing of the carol “The First Noel.” The podcast of the service is below.
For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The last message dealt with "Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come..."
Well, we’re almost there. We’ve made the final turn and we’re heading down the home stretch. In other words, Christmas will be here in just three days. And I’ll tell you, when I get to this point, as I have 63 times, I tend to feel the same sort of way, and it’s really not what I would have expected two weeks before. Now I recognize that I’m only talking for myself and my experiences may be radically different from what y’all are feeling right now. But when I get to these last few days, I sort of feel this weird sense of calm, something I can guarantee wasn’t there at the beginning of December. As a matter of fact, it’s like this uncomplicated and uncluttered, almost child-like view of Christmas, with all it’s simplicity and innocence and wonder.
Of course, like I said that wasn’t the case a few weeks ago. I mean, back then, all the stuff that needed to get done was overwhelming. Good night nurse, I had to get the tree assembled and haul all the decorations up from the basement and down from the attic. And even though these last few years, I’ve done my shopping online, I still had to do go on the sites and buy the stuff, another source of stress. And as to my life around the church, trust me, Advent isn’t exactly a relaxing time. Let’s just say, as we entered December, with all the decorating and purchasing and activities, my stress level was hovering between orange and red. But I can’t say that’s unusual. The same thing has happened every year, starting right after Thanksgiving.
But I’ve got to tell you, right now, I’m feeling a real sense of peace. You see, in the last week before Christmas, my stress and anxiety tends to tank, which is a good thing. And the reason, well, I don’t think it’s exactly rocket science. I mean, let’s face it, when I get to this point, the stuff that’s still in the basement and attic will probably stay there for another year. And as to gifts, I’ve either bought them or come up with a good excuse for why they’re late. And right now, all I have to do is to finish preaching this sermon that I’ve already written and do a traditional candle light service I’ve done before (that’s a no-brainer), because we all know that Christmas Eve isn’t the time to innovate, certainly not in a Presbyterian church. And if you don’t believe me, let me just tell you about a colleague of mine who decided to change his whole approach to the night before Christmas and found himself not only alone on Christmas Eve but called a Grinch by his congregation. No, by the time I get to this point in the Advent season, I really do feel this genuine sense of peace.
And that’s probably a good thing, because this morning we’re going to talk about the last verse of the song we’ve sung as we’ve lit the Advent candles. I mean, after singing “We light the Advent candles against the winter night, to welcome our Lord Jesus who is the world's True Light,” on the first Sunday in Advent, we sang, “The first one will remind us that Christ will soon return. We light it in the darkness and watch if gleam and burn,” and with that in mind, we talked about the second coming of Jesus. And on the next Sunday, we added, “We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord,” and during that service we focused on how the Old Testament pointed to the coming of the Messiah, the Christ. And then last Sunday, we added, “Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today,” and we looked at how John the Baptist can still help us to prepare to celebrate the advent of Jesus. Now that’s what we’ve done. And this morning, as the fourth candle was lit, we sang, “Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come, prepare, my heart, believe it, and give the Christ child room.” Now that’s what we sang. And because of that, we’re going to focus on the peace that surrounded the birth of Jesus, and we’re going to talk about this idea, that we can best understand the coming of Christ when we take a step back and appreciate its almost childlike simplicity.
And I’ll tell you, when you think about it, peace and simplicity is really what the birth of Jesus was all about, especially when you read how it’s described in the Gospel of Luke. For example, just consider the birth itself. This is what Luke wrote: “About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.” [Luke 2:1-7, CEV] Now that’s what Luke wrote. And I don’t know about y’all, but this doesn’t seem all that impressive, you know in a CGI sort of way. I mean, where are the laser beams and explosions and special effects? And where are all the animals that just started talking in a Hanna-Barbera kind of way? And my gosh, where’s that beam that sort of shot right through the roof of the barn spotlighting that cute, chubbie, white baby (I mean, he certainly doesn’t look Jewish), a kid who was at least a couple months old lying in the manger there with his mother looking amazing given the fact that she’d just given birth? I can tell you, Debbie didn’t look like that right after Maggie was born, and she was in a hospital, not a stable. No, when you get right down to it, as described by Luke, this is a pretty unimpressive birth.
And I think we can say the same sort of thing about first people who came to see Jesus. Again, according to Luke: “That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. This very day in King David’s hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.’ Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said: ‘Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God.’ After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.’ They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay. When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. Everyone listened and was surprised. But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant. As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.” [Luke 2:8-20, CEV] Now I know this part of the story is pretty impressive, with flashing angels and a heavenly choir and all. Let’s get real, that’s impressive. But the guys who heard this just weren’t, were they? They were shepherds for crying out loud. And do you have any idea where shepherds stood on the ladder of success in ancient Judea? Well, not on the bottom rung, that was reserved for children and women and foreigners. But right above them were the shepherds. Let’s just say, the only parents who hoped their boys would grow up to be shepherds were shepherds. And yet it was to these rough men that the announcement came. And they were the ones who were the first to see Jesus. And after seeing him, they returned to their flocks and were never heard from again. I mean, if the birth was unimpressive, the ones to whom it was announced, man, they were mega unimportant.
And yet, I believe this is extremely important for us to remember as we make our final approach to our celebration Christmas. For example, because his birth was so unimpressive, that reminds us that Jesus really was and is one of us. You see, he wasn’t some kind of star child beamed down to earth. He didn’t spring from the head of Zeus like Athena nor was his birth the result of an elaborate game between the gods like Hercules. No, the birth of Christ just wasn’t dramatic at all. And I’ll tell you, that’s really a good thing, at least for us. You see, we don’t need to be superior to follow his example. And we don’t need to be god-like be his disciples. And we sure don’t need to be perfect to be considered one of his brothers and sisters. Instead we can be who we actually are, men and women who are made of flesh and blood but also animated and inspired by God’s spirit, human beings who are collections of a whole bunch of stuff that’s positive and negative, a race of folks who are both sugar and spice and everything nice as well as snips and snails and puppy dog tails. You see, because Jesus was a real person like us, we can find direction in his life and freedom in his death and genuine hope in his resurrection. You see, his birth reminds us that Jesus really was like one of us.
And since the first folks called to see him were a pretty motley bunch, well, that can remind us that he really did come to call other motley people, you know, people like us. You see, his message was never intended for just the high and mighty or those who are important or even self-important. Rather, he came to be the savior for folks on every rung on the socio-economic ladder, with particular focus on the guys and gals near the bottom, because they may have a greater need to feel secure than those at the top. And I’ll tell you why I believe that’s so important for us to recognize and to accept right here and right now. Since shepherds were the first to the manger, our relationship with him isn’t about who we are or even who we expect to be. And it isn’t about the work we’ve done or even the work we may have promised to do. And it’s sure not about what we’ve achieved or even what we believe we’re capable of achieving sometime in the future. As a matter of fact, when it comes to our relationship with Christ, it really doesn’t start with us at all. It all begins with him, who he is and what he’s done for us. Therefore, all we can really do is to trust and believe, you know, to trust in his work and to believe in his promises. You see, it really is good news that some pretty unimportant people were the first to come, because that can actually give us hope that we’ll be included too.
And so there it is, the birth of Jesus. And now, as we move into the last few days before Christmas and our pace settles into something less hectic and more peaceful, maybe we’ll be able to appreciate the simplicity of the whole story and remember that, based on his birth, Jesus really was like us and thanks to those who were first invited to come, we can believe that we’re invited too. And I’ll tell you, that really is good news, something that we can understand when we claim the simplicity and the innocence and the wonder that children can feel this time of year. Because let’s face it, when it comes to Christmas, “Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”
The members and friends of Cove gathered to worship on Sunday, December 15. Our worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy.
This morning we continued a series of messages entitled "We Light the Advent Candles". During the Sundays before Christmas, we'll consider meaning found in the four verses of the song we sing as we light the Advent candles. The specific topics are below:
December 1 – The first one remind us that Christ will soon return...
December 8 – We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word...
December 15 – Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way...
December 22 – Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come...
If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on The Cove Community blog.
After the announcements, we listened to Weir High Choir. We started the service with the announcements and lighting the third candle in the Advent wreath.
Instrumental and vocal music are important to our worship. Songs give us the chance to praise God and to help focus our attention on the theme of the service. During the service, we’ll have the opportunity to sing songs that reflect different musical styles. Since God has called into his church as individuals with a variety of tastes, this offers us the chance to display our sensitivity for our fellow worshipers and to grow in our knowledge of how we might praise God. Our first song was "There's a Song in the Air."
Our prayers represent our communication with God. Of course, as Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit “...intercedes for us with groans too deep for words”; therefore, God already knows our needs. Still it’s important that we put them into words, as well as the regret we feel for our sins and our thanks for all God has done for us.
During this service, there were two times when we prayed together. During the Our Congregational Prayer, we confessed our sins and hear the assurance that we're forgiven. We also have the opportunity to lift our concerns and needs to God. We closed this prayer with The Lord’s Prayer. After we collected the offering, we praised and thanked God for his presence in our church and within our lives. The Weir Choir sang while we collected the offering.
After our prayer of thanks, Pastor Rudiger shared a message. For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The third message will dealt with "Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way..." and focused on John the Baptist.
We closed the service by singing "Some Children See Him." A podcast of the entire service is below.
Next week, we'll continue the series entitled We Light the Advent Candles. During the last message, we'll consider the birth of Jesus.
For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The third message dealt with "Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way..." Well here we are, another week closer to Christmas. And yesterday, when I was just getting started on this sermon, I was listening to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra play Christmas music. And if you’re never heard them, well, here’s a little sample.
Well, I’ll tell, if that doesn’t get you either fired up or stress out about Christmas, I don’t know what will.
And so, here we are, on the third Sunday in a church season called Advent. And as I hope most of y’all know, we’ve been looking at the different verses in the song we sing as we light our Advent wreath. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we lit the first candle and sang, “The first one will remind us that Christ will soon return. We light it in the darkness and watch if gleam and burn, we light it in the darkness and watch if gleam and burn.” And during that service, we talked about how Jesus was going to return sometime in the future. And last Sunday, we lit the second candle and sang “We light the second candle, and hear God’s holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” And we considered how some of the folks in the Old Testament looked forward to coming of the Messiah, the Christ. Now that’s where we’ve been.
And this morning, when we lit the third candle, along with the other three verses, we added this one: “Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today!” And so, with that in mind, we’ll focus on John the Baptist this morning. Of course, I know a lot of y’all who’ve been around the church a long time have heard the story of John over and over again. But today, I’m going to approach it from a slightly different angle. You see, we’re going to look at two things. First, we’re going to talk briefly about some the stuff that most of us already know, stuff that’s cool but really isn’t all that important. And then after that, second, we’ll talk about some of the things about John that we often neglect but that I believe are extremely important in what we choose to do and what we decide to be. Now that’s the plan.
And like I said, we’re going to start by talking about the kind of stuff that generally comes to mind when we think about John the Baptist. For example, I believe we often focus on who he was. I mean, just visualize John. My gosh, he was really out there, wasn’t he; sort of a cross between a hippie and one of those guys who are yelling about Jesus on the sidewalk there in Pittsburgh. And that’s not us. Take me for example. Now I can see myself hanging around Weirton or Follansbee or maybe some other small West Virginia town. And I can see myself wearing one of my favorite sport coats, this light tan leather jacket that’s incredibly soft. And I can certainly see myself eating food I personally enjoy, you know, like maybe a good piece of liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Now that’s me. But was that John, no way José. Listen to how Mark described John. “So John the Baptist showed up in the desert... John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.” [Mark 1:4a, 6, CEV] Now that was John. And let me be clear, this stuff about wearing camel’s hair has nothing to do the overcoat I wore yesterday. Let’s just say, when we think about John the Baptist, we generally focus on who he was, you know where he went and what he wore and ate. And in a word, I think we can all agree that he was pretty “groovie,”maybe even “far out.”
But that’s not all we tend to focus on. I mean, if we know the story, generally we also consider the sort of things he did. For instance, given what we call him, we can pretty much assume that he baptized, right? I mean, dahh. And while he doing that, he really ticked off the religious establishment, didn’t he? According to Matthew, “many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them: ‘You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. And don’t start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham’s family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.’” [Matthew 3:7-10, CEV] Not exactly the way to win friends and influence people. And most folks both inside and outside the church know what happened to him. Matthew wrote, “When Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests. She pleased Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she wanted. But the girl’s mother told her to say, ‘Here on a platter I want the head of John the Baptist!’ The king was sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard to go to the prison and cut off John’s head. It was taken on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.” [Matthew 14:6-11, CEV] Now I think that’s terrible, but I guess it’s one way to get a head in life. So who was John: a guy who hung out in the desert, wearing stuff made from a camel and eating honey-coated insects. And what did he do: he baptized and he ticked off a lot of important people and he lost his head over a girl. And if we know the story at all, this is the kind of stuff that we usually focus on.
But I’ll tell you, for as interesting or bizarre or tragic as all this might have been, if this is the extent of our focus, man, we’re missing some really important stuff. You see, if this our vision, we’re missing what he still challenges us to do and what he still challenges us to be.
And what is it that he challenges us to do? Just listen to what Luke wrote. “So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, ‘Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.’” [Luke 3:3, CEV] Now that’s what he said. But he didn’t stop there. “The crowds asked John, ‘What should we do?’ John told them, ‘If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.’ When tax collectors came to be baptized, they asked John, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ John told them, ‘Don’t make people pay more than they owe.’ Some soldiers asked him, ‘And what about us? What do we have to do?’ John told them, ‘Don’t force people to pay money to make you leave them alone. Be satisfied with your pay.’” [Luke 3:10-14, CEV] Now that’s what John said to them.
And you know, I think it applies to us too. You see, I think John is also challenging us to change, which, by the way, is really what the word “repent” means. It means to turn our mind; in other words, to change our perspectives and our opinions and definitely our behavior. But I’m telling you, this isn’t really new and exciting. I think calling for this kind of change was exactly what was going on when “Jesus answered, ‘The most important one says: “People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: “Love others as much as you love yourself.” No other commandment is more important than these.’” [Mark 29-31, CEV] And if we want to know want this love business is all about, listen to Paul: “Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails!” [1 Corinthians 13:4-8, CEV] Now that’s what Paul said about love. And I’ll tell you, John even told us what love is not. He wrote, “Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life. But if you don’t love each other, you are still under the power of death. If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know that murderers do not have eternal life. We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other. If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.” [1 John 3:14-18, CEV] Simply put, I believe John the Baptist is telling us to turn toward love; that’s what he’s challenging us to do.
But I’ll tell you something else, I think he’s also challenging us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. And you know, he’s does that through his own example. You see, he was actually the first person to tell people about who Jesus was and what he came to do. As the Evangelist John wrote, “The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come. He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” I didn’t know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him. I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. Before this I didn’t know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.’” [John 1:29-34, CEV] Now think about what this shows about John. He directed people toward Jesus. Which also meant he was directing people away from himself. Again, John wrote, “[His followers] went to John and said, ‘Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.’ John replied: ‘No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it. You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him. At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom’s voice. That’s why I am so glad. Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.’” [John 3:26-30, CEV] You see, John was really the first witness of Jesus Christ, and he did it with humility. That’s who he was.
And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what we can be as well. I mean, we can point toward Jesus by the words that we use. And I’ll tell you, this is exactly what Paul did. According to Acts, this is what he said to King Agrippa: “But all this time God has helped me, and I have preached both to the rich and to the poor. I have told them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen. I told them how the Messiah would suffer and be the first to be raised from death, so that he could bring light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” [Acts 26:22-23, CEV] You see, we can definitely tell people about Jesus. But maybe an even more effective witness is how we choose to live. Jesus said this to his disciples: “Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that produces bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.” [Matthew 7:15-20, CEV] Now that’s what he said. You can tell the quality of a tree by the fruit it produces. And that same thing applies to us. As the song says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” And you know, it’s sort of like a joke I heard years ago. You see, this young Christian was all fired up, and he was going through this little dinner asking people if they knew Jesus. And he gets to his old farmer sitting in the back. And he says, “Brother do you know Jesus?” And the farmer looks at him and sort of smiles and says, “Son, you’re asking the wrong person. Ask my wife and kids. And ask the guy who cuts my hair and the one who works at the DMV. In fact, ask my waitress. They can answer that question far better than me.” You see, we bear witness to Jesus by what we say and by what we do; our words and our work, and I think that’s what John challenges us to be.
Now, I understand how it’s hard to look away from a guy hanging out among the cacti, wearing a really itchy poncho and downing bugs, especially if he’s dunking people in water and getting under the skin of the high and mighty and saying things that could get him in big trouble. You see, that who John was. But you know, there’s another side we don’t want to neglect, and I’m talking about what John still challenges us to do, namely to turn toward a life guided by a decision to love others, and what he challenged us to be, and I’m talking about witnesses of Jesus Christ. Now, that’s John the Baptist. And next week, we’ll finish up with verse number four: “Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come, prepare, my heart, believe it, and give the Christ child room, prepare, my heart, believe it, and give the Christ child room.”
The members and friends of Cove gathered to worship on Sunday, December 8. Our worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy.
This morning we started a series of messages entitled "We Light the Advent Candles". During the Sundays before Christmas, we'll consider meaning found in the four verses of the song we sing as we light the Advent candles. The specific topics are below:
December 1 – The first one remind us that Christ will soon return...
December 8 – We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word...
December 15 – Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way...
December 22 – Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come...
If you miss one of these messages, you can find a copy and podcast on The Cove Community blog.
After the announcements, we listened to a flute trio from Weir High and the Cove Bells. We started the service with the announcements and lighting the second candle in the Advent wreath.
Instrumental and vocal music are important to our worship. Songs give us the chance to praise God and to help focus our attention on the theme of the service. During the service, we’ll have the opportunity to sing songs that reflect different musical styles. Since God has called into his church as individuals with a variety of tastes, this offers us the chance to display our sensitivity for our fellow worshipers and to grow in our knowledge of how we might praise God. Our first song was "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus."
Our prayers represent our communication with God. Of course, as Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit “...intercedes for us with groans too deep for words”; therefore, God already knows our needs. Still it’s important that we put them into words, as well as the regret we feel for our sins and our thanks for all God has done for us.
During this service, there were two times when we prayed together. During the Our Congregational Prayer, we confessed our sins and hear the assurance that we're forgiven. We also have the opportunity to lift our concerns and needs to God. We closed this prayer with The Lord’s Prayer. After we collected the offering, we praised and thanked God for his presence in our church and within our lives. The Weir Flute Trio played while we collected the offering.
After our prayer of thanks, Pastor Rudiger shared a message. For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The second message will deal with "We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word..."
We closed the service by singing "I Wonder as I Wander."
A podcast of the entire service is below. Next week, we'll continue the series entitled We Light the Advent Candles. During the third message, we'll consider the message of John the Baptist.
For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The second message dealt with "We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word." I think it’s really important for y’all to know, that right now we have about 16½ days before Christmas. Which means that, in just over two weeks, all the presents must be bought, all the cards must be sent, all the food must be fixed, and all the decorations must be put out. And if they aren’t, in less than two weeks, we’re out of luck. Maybe that’s why they call this the most wonderful time of the year.
But you know, when you think about it, this period before Christmas really is interesting time of year. Now you remember what I just said, you know, about all the stuff that we’ve got to get done in 16½ days: I’m talking about the chaos of shopping and sending and cooking and decorating. Man, it’s like Black Friday for a month.
It makes you crazy. Of course, I think we’d all agree that this kind of thing forces us to almost obsess on the future, because the future is going to be present and then the past in, what, 17 days! Now I think this kind of thing happens to us all this time of year. But what’s interesting is that, at the same time, we’re all kind of reminiscing about the past. I mean, this is the time of year that even teenagers are willing to watch black and white movies. And half the ornaments on the tree have some king of back story. And let me ask you, what tastes better than eating a wedge of pumpkin pie or a piece of gingerbread or about two dozen sugar cookies made just like mom, or if your like my dad’s family, Mrs. Smith, Sara Lee or the Dough Boy? Still it brings back memories. I’ll tell you, the past never feels as warm and fuzzy as it does a couple of weeks before Christmas, at least that’s how I feel.
And you know, that’s going to be our focus this morning. I mean, remember, last week, when we lit the first Advent candle we sang, “The first one will remind us that Christ will soon return. We light it in the darkness and watch it gleam and burn; we light it in the darkness and watch it gleam and burn.” And so, we talked about Jesus’s return. And this week, when Linda lit the second candle, we sang, “We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” Now that’s what we sang. And with that in mind, we’re going to spend a little while thinking about what the Old Testament had to say about the one whose birth we’re about to celebrate. And just like we did last week, we’re going to focus on three aspects of these expectations: first, who did they expect him to be, and second, what did they expect him to do, and third, how might we respond. Now that’s the plan for this morning.
And it all starts with who they thought he would be. In other words, what kind of expectations did folks who lived way before the manger and the shepherds and the wise men, what expectation did they have as they looked forward to the one they’d call the Messiah in Hebrew or the Christ in Greek. And I’ll tell you, we can see the one they expected all over the place in the Old Testament. For example, they certainly believed he would be closely connected with God. I mean, just listen to what the Psalmist wrote. “Why do the nations and why do their people make useless plans? The kings of this earth have all joined together to turn against the Lord and his chosen one. They say, ‘Let’s cut the ropes and set ourselves free!’ In heaven the Lord laughs as he sits on his throne, making fun of the nations. The Lord becomes furious and threatens them. His anger terrifies them as he says, ‘I’ve put my king on Zion, my sacred hill.’ I will tell the promise that the Lord made to me: ‘You are my son, because today I have become your father. Ask me for the nations, and every nation on earth will belong to you. You will smash them with an iron rod and shatter them like dishes of clay.’ Be smart, all you rulers, and pay close attention. Serve and honor the Lord; be glad and tremble. Show respect to his son because if you don’t, the Lord might become furious and suddenly destroy you. But he blesses and protects everyone who runs to him.” [Psalm 2:1-12, CEV] And so they were looking for the Son of God.
But they weren’t looking for some kind of God-man. No, this one would also be one of us. For example, he was going to be a descendant of the greatest king of all, King David. I mean, this was what the Lord said to David. “I’ll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried in the tomb of your ancestors. I’ll make him a strong ruler, and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I’ll see that he is corrected, just as children are corrected by their parents. But I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. I will make sure that one of your descendants will always be king.” [2 Samuel 7:12–16, CEV] You see, the one they expected would be in David’s line. As a matter of fact, they believed he would be born in David’s city. As the Prophet Micah wrote, “Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the Lord will choose one of your people to rule the nation—someone whose family goes back to ancient times.” [Micah 5:2, CEV] No, this guy was going to be real, and I’m talking about flesh and blood. And even though he could be called God’s Son, he’d also be the son of man, which means “human,” you know, like us, just like Daniel wrote. “As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God. He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.” [Daniel 7:13–14, CEV] And so, as these prophets and priests looked forward toward the Messiah, the Christ, they believed he would be uniquely God’s Son but also like any other son of man. That’s who they expected.
And when we look at Jesus, he really fulfills both sides of this expectation. I mean, we can certainly see an undeniable connection with God. As John wrote, “We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.” [1 John 5:20, CEV] And at the end of his gospel, he said this to the reader, “Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.” [John 20:30-31, CEV] And so, on one hand, his followers understood his divine sonship.
But on the other hand, his humanity was also clear. And if there’s any question about that, I don’t think we need to look beyond the birth story in Luke. “About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.” [Luke 2:1-7, CEV] I’m telling you, this is the birth of a baby, not the coming of a god. As a matter of fact, I think this combination of divinity and humanity was best expressed by Paul. He wrote, “Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.” [Philippians 2:6-7, CEV] You see, in the past, they looked for the one who would be both Son of God and son of man; that’s who they expected. And that’s who we received in Jesus Christ.
But the hope of those Old Testament people went beyond identity. They also expected him to do certain things. And again we have a contrast. I mean, they expected their Messiah, their Christ to do incredible works. For example, they believed he would be a prophet like Moses, just like it was written in Deuteronomy, “Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says. You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai and said to the Lord, ‘Please don’t let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again—if we do, we will die!’ Then the Lord told me: ‘Moses, they have said the right thing. So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said. Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn’t obey the message will have to answer to me.’” [Deuteronomy 18:15-19, CEV] And they believed he would be able to heal those who were sick. When he comes “...the blind will see, and the ears of the deaf will be healed. Those who were lame will leap around like deer; tongues once silent will begin to shout. Water will rush through the desert.” [Isaiah 35:5-6, CEV] They even believed he’d be raised from the dead. As the Psalmist wrote, “I am your chosen one. You won’t leave me in the grave or let my body decay. You have shown me the path to life, and you make me glad by being near to me. Sitting at your right side, I will always be joyful.” {Psalm 16:10-11, CEV] I think the best word to describe their Messiah’s life would be “miraculous.”
But for all the glory and power, they also believed he would suffer. And no where in the Old Testament is this suffering described in more detail than in two chapters within the prophecy of Isaiah. And this is how the description begins. “The Lord says: ‘My servant will succeed! He will be given great praise and the highest honors. Many were horrified at what happened to him. But everyone who saw him was even more horrified because he suffered until he no longer looked human. My servant will make nations worthy to worship me; kings will be silent as they bow in wonder. They will see and think about things they have never seen or thought about before.’” [Isaiah 52:13-15, CEV] And this was the goal of this suffering servant: “By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the Lord. Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty. The Lord will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.” [Isaiah 53:11-12, CEV] You see, this is what they expected him to do.
And I’ll tell you, when we consider his life, that’s really what Jesus Christ did. I mean, he certainly did magnificent things when he was alive. For instance, Mark wrote, “Everyone was amazed at his teaching. He taught with authority, and not like the teachers of the Law of Moses.” [Mark 1:22, CEV] And when some of the followers of John the Baptist came and asked if he was the one or if they should wait for another, “Jesus said to the messengers sent by John, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. Blind people are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People who have leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can now hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. God will bless everyone who doesn’t reject me because of what I do.’” [Luke 7:22-23, CEV] And as to the resurrection, Paul wrote this to the Corinthians: “So if the dead won’t be raised to life, Christ wasn’t raised to life. Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else. But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.” [1 Corinthians 15:16-20, CEV] And so the miracles are certainly there.
But so is the suffering. I mean, just listen to what Jesus said, “Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, ‘The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.’ Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant.” [Mark 8:31-32, CEV] Now that’s what Jesus believed would happen, and he was right. And you know, Paul said the same thing to the Philippians. Remember when he wrote about how Jesus had given up everything and had become a slave. This is what he said next. “Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all others.” [Philippians 2:8-9, CEV] You see, Jesus did exactly what the Son of God and son of man was expected to do. And all that we can find when we look back into the Old Testament.
But there’s one thing we can’t find in this book. You see, it’s really up to us to decide how we’re going to respond. I mean, are we going to reject the one who fulfilled hope and did exactly what he was expected to do? You see, we can reject all of that and live as though we don’t have a God who loved us so much he sent his son to be our savior. Or we can choose to believe that Jesus is who he was expected to be and to trust that, through his life and death, he opened the possibility of a new kind of life that’s moving towards a glorious future. That’s also an option. But how we respond, that’s up to us.
But you know, maybe the song we sang as we lit the second candle, maybe it offers some solid advice about what we should do. Remember, this is what we sang: “We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” You see, if we accept the expectations and fulfillment right there in scripture, we really will be clinging to Jesus. And we’ll be doing that right through the next 16½ days and beyond. And next week, we’ll consider verse number three: “Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today!”
The members and friends of Cove gathered to worship on Sunday, December 1. Our worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy.
This morning we started a series of messages entitled "We Light the Advent Candles". During the Sundays before Christmas, we'll consider meaning found in the four verses of the song we sing as we light the Advent candles. The specific topics are below:
December 1 – The first one remind us that Christ will soon return...
December 8 – We light the second candle, and hear God's holy Word...
December 15 – Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way...
December 22 – Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come...
We started the service with the announcements and lighting the first candle in the Advent wreath. Instrumental and vocal music are important to our worship. Songs give us the chance to praise God and to help focus our attention on the theme of the service. During the service, we’ll have the opportunity to sing songs that reflect different musical styles. Since God has called into his church as individuals with a variety of tastes, this offers us the chance to display our sensitivity for our fellow worshipers and to grow in our knowledge of how we might praise God. Our first song was "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Our prayers represent our communication with God. Of course, as Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit “...intercedes for us with groans too deep for words”; therefore, God already knows our needs. Still it’s important that we put them into words, as well as the regret we feel for our sins and our thanks for all God has done for us.
During this service, there were two times when we prayed together. During the Our Congregational Prayer, we confessed our sins and hear the assurance that we're forgiven. We also have the opportunity to lift our concerns and needs to God. We closed this prayer with The Lord’s Prayer. After we collected the offering, we praised and thanked God for his presence in our church and within our lives. Janice Torrance played the organ as we collected the offering.
After our prayer of thanks, Pastor Rudiger shared a message. For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. The first message will deal with "The first one remind us that Christ will soon return..."
We shared a special communion service in which the responses are sung to Christmas carols. A podcast of the entire service is below.
Next week, we'll continue the series entitled We Light the Advent Candles. During the second message, we'll consider how we can get ready to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The members and friends of Cove gathered to worship on Sunday, December 22. Our worship is intended to be a free expression of our love for God and the joy we feel when we accept that love. Of course, there are many ways for us to express that love and joy.
